Leading Indigenous lawyer hits back at Marcia Langton over Adani

Tony McAvoy says traditional owners are 'proud and independent' and are not being used by anti-mining activists to block the $16bn mine

One of Australia's leading native title lawyers has spoken publicly for the first time as a traditional owner fighting to stop the Adani mine, a campaign he said was driven by "proud and independent people" who were among the best-informed Indigenous litigants in the country.

Tony McAvoy SC, who became Australia's first Indigenous silk in 2015, said the Wangan and Jagalingou people were keenly aware of how their priorities differed from environmentalist allies in a battle to preserve their Queensland country from one of the world's largest proposed coalmines.